Washington (CNN) – In a development that contradicts statements by the IRS commissioner, Republican investigators say they have learned that former agency official Lois Lerner's computer hard drive was only "scratched" and some information on it was likely recoverable at one point.

Commissioner John Koskinen told the House Ways and Means Committee last month that Lerner's hard drive had been recycled so the agency was unable to pull emails that the panel wants as part of its investigation of IRS targeting of political groups.

(CNN) – Copies of former IRS official Lois Lerner’s emails that were deemed unrecoverable might actually be retrievable, an IRS lawyer appeared to indicate in a recent testimony, according to House Republicans.

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, selectively released information Monday about a closed session the committee held with IRS Deputy Associate Chief Counsel Thomas Kane last week.

(CNN) – Rep. Darrell Issa said Sunday the committee he chairs will "probably never know" if a computer crash that destroyed sought-after e-mails was a deliberate act to cover up wrongdoing at the IRS.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Candy Crowley, the California Republican said that though the hard drive belonging to former IRS official Lois Lerner is “physically gone,” there's evidence that she was in violation of some agency regulations and laws.

(CNN) - The attorney for embattled former IRS official Lois Lerner said Sunday that Republicans are denigrating an innocent woman for purely political purposes.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Candy Crowley, attorney William Taylor said it's "convenient" for the GOP to suggest that Lerner's computer crash, which destroyed documents sought by a House Committee, means something "nefarious" was going on.

(CNN) – Internal Revenue Service chief John Koskinen's own political leanings are coming into question as the controversy continues to unfold involving the agency’s targeting of certain political groups.

Over the past 30 years, Koskinen has given more than $100,000 to Democratic causes, according to FEC filings. But the government veteran downplayed his political activity, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Thursday, "I've never been a partisan operative, a political operative."

Washington (CNN) - Expanding his IRS investigation by more than two decades, House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-California, has sent a subpoena to the Federal Elections Commission for all communications involving former IRS administrator Lois Lerner from January 1, 1986 to the present day.

This new search is the broadest-yet for records in a year-long investigation by Issa and congressional Republicans, who are trying to assess why the agency targeted tea party and other political groups for extra scrutiny.

Washington (CNN) - A new round of scrutiny hit the IRS on Monday as senators from both parties summoned the agency’s chief to Capitol Hill, one House committee set up a new investigative hearing and another issued a subpoena for the head of the agency to appear.

This came after the IRS announced that up to two years of e-mails from former agency manager Lois Lerner were destroyed when her hard drive crashed in 2011. Lerner ran the IRS division that oversaw tax-exempt status and is a key figure in the investigation into why the agency targeted tea party and other groups. The IRS says it has worked to recover the Lerner e-mails by searching through the accounts of dozens of employees who may have corresponded with her.

(CNN) – A top White House official blamed a computer crash for the disappearance of emails from embattled former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner, echoing the explanation the agency gave Congress last week for the two years' worth of missing subpoenaed correspondence.